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How to Cultivate Creativity as a Sleep-Deprived Parent
Instead of waiting until the kids move out
It’s a known fact: creative problem solving happens through sleep.
Yet there has to be more to it. There has to be more to cling onto. Because if not — if creativity happens only by having a whole lot of good sleep — I am screwed.
If I wait until creativity strikes, if I wait until I feel refreshed, and relaxed, and inspired, like when I was a single backpacker who wrote poetry by sunset at the top of the Empire State Building or after a delicious poolside massage under the light of a full moon in Thailand…
If I waited for these lovely, inspiring, carefree moments, I’d be writing as sporadically as my daughter makes her bed.
So instead, I’m dragging creativity out from under the rainbow.
I’ve decided to accept where I am in life at this moment.
To stop looking over my shoulder with envy at the freedoms of singledom and childlessness.
To accept that sleep deprivation may indeed be eating my brain.
To quit wishing for a time machine to transport me to a time where sleep…
